Mr. Gone (album)

Mr. Gone
Studio album by Weather Report
Released	September 1978
Recorded	May 1978
Studio	Devonshire Sound Studios, North Hollywood, California
Genre	Jazz fusion
Length	37:15
Label	ARC/Columbia
Producer	Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius
Weather Report chronology
Heavy Weather (1977) Mr. Gone (1978) 8:30 (1979)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	(B)[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]

Mr. Gone is the ninth album by Weather Report, recorded and released in 1978. As the group was still looking for a drummer following the departure of Alex Acuña, outside drummers Tony Williams and Steve Gadd appear along with Peter Erskine, who would become Acuña's replacement. Singers Deniece Williams and Maurice White appear on the final track, "And Then." Jaco Pastorius's song title "Punk Jazz" would later become the title for a posthumous compilation of his music.^[4]

The record became a center of controversy when Down Beat gave it a one-star review. According to the magazine, "Zawinul, Shorter, et al. have made the controversial music a commercial product; unfortunately ... Weather Report has over-orchestrated its sound." However, the album was quickly certified Gold and topped out at #52 on the Billboard music charts.

Track listing

1. "The Pursuit of the Woman with the Feathered Hat" (Zawinul) 5:03
2. "River People" (Pastorius) 4:50
3. "Young and Fine" (Zawinul) 6:55
4. "The Elders" (Shorter, arranged by Zawinul) 4:21
5. "Mr. Gone" (Zawinul) 5:26
6. "Punk Jazz" (Pastorius) 5:09
7. "Pinocchio" (Shorter) 2:26
8. "And Then" (musiс - Zawinul, lyrics - Sam Guest) 3:22

Personnel

Weather Report

• Joe Zawinul - modified Rhodes 88 electric piano, acoustic piano, two ARP 2600 synthesizers, Oberheim polyphonic synthesizer, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 synthesizer, Mu-Tron Bi-Phase and Mu-Tron Volume Wah effects, kalimba, thumbeki drums, sleigh bells, melodica, high hat, voice (track 1)
• Wayne Shorter - Tenor, alto and soprano saxophone, voice (track 1)
• Jaco Pastorius - Bass, drums (tracks 1 and 2), timpani (track 2), voice (tracks 1, 2 and 6)
• Peter Erskine - Drums (tracks 1 and 7), high hat (track 3), voice (track 1)

Additional musicians

• Tony Williams - Drums (tracks 5 and 6)
• Steve Gadd - Drums (tracks 3 and 8)
• Manolo Badrena - Voice Solo (track 1)
• Jon Lucien - Voice (track 1)
• Deniece Williams - Voice (track 8)
• Maurice White - Vocal (track 8)

Technical

• Alex Kazanegras - engineer
• Dave Mancini - second engineer
• Nancy Donald - cover design
• Lou Beach - cover illustration

References

1. Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "Mr. Gone - Weather Report | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
2. Christgau, Robert (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: weather report". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
3. Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 204. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
4. "Jaco-Pastorius-Punk-Jazz". discogs.com. Retrieved 21 May 2016.

External links

• Weather Report Annotated Discography: Mr. Gone